I wasn’t planning on watching this movie but having missed the showing for Don I let myself get talked into seeing Jaan-e-mann instead.
Jaan-e-maan goes head to head with Farhan’s “Don” but the plus points to this movie were that for the past two years Mata Rani has looked favourably on Akshay’s Diwali releases (Aitraaz and Garam Masala) and it was Sajid Nadiadwala who earlier gave us the super hit comedy “Mujhse Shaadi Karoge”, which brought Salman Khan & Akshay Kumar together for the first time on screen.
My initial reactions after seeing the promos of this movie were that this would be a boring love triangle and one to watch at a later date. So did Jaan-e-maan fail to impress or was it just another just another love triangle?
Yes it’s a love triangle but its one with a difference, and one that did leave a positive impression on my mind.
Shirish Kunder has done a grand job for his directorial debut, he’s not made a master piece but he’s treading on the right path. His ideas are running around like mad in this movie and he has injected a new lease of life into the old tried and tested love triangle formula.
Shirsh has given us what would best be described as an Indian Broadway musical and not a cheap and tacky one as one would probably have expected.
The advantage of seeing this on the big screen was that you get to appreciate the visual splendor of the sets, they were just stunning and with the constant flashbacks it was just great how the background would change and give way to the new scene. Everything fitted in perfectly, I’m not saying the movie was flawless I could pick a dozen mistakes if I had to but the overall package makes up for the small niggly mistakes. There are some clichéd dialogues, one too many song sequences, a few unnecessary scenes post interval but nothing that takes away from the story, basically the Shirish could do with a few editing lessons.
As for performances well the one that really stands out is Salman Khan’s. When this guy first started his career there was no doubt he has passion and ambition to become the best but after delivering a few worthy performances he turned into another Govina giving us quantity rather then quality. However things look like they are about to change again, Kundar has managed to bring out a great performance from Salman. The emotional sketches were spot on and even his fake American accent didn’t annoy me as much as it normally does. Oh and his costumes are worth seeing!
Akshay Kumar was well casted as the nerdy simpleton and he has the best goofy laughter I’ve ever heard. Priety Zinta didn’t have much to do and didn’t really look or do anything different then she did in KANK so there’s nothing much to say for her. Anupum Kher was wasted; I don’t understand why his role was even etched in the first place.
The music is definitely more appreciated once you see the movie, great lyrics by the great Gulzar and Anu surprises with some melodious tunes that fit in with the story perfectly.
Seriously I wish I handled the promos of this movie as I feel it’s done the movie no justice. It’s not a soppy romantic but an over the top comedy with some emotions attached to it. The movie promises to entertain and that’s exactly what it does, there’s nothing forced about it.
It won’t be the best movie I’ve seen this year but as an avid Hindi movie goer I’m often complaining about the lack of variety and innovative ideas that our film industry provides us so it would be rude of me to knock someone who has done just that.